Kahi

May 20, 2024

Shibani Mishra

This is an edited extract from Indian-Jewish Food: Recipes and Stories from the Backstreets of Bondi, by Elana Benjamin, to be published by the Sydney Jewish Museum in August 2024. Copyright Elana Benjamin, 2024.

My Bombay-born mother made kahi—a flaky, layered flatbread—every Shavuot morning of my childhood in Sydney, Australia. My brother and I ate our kahi straight out of the pan, with sugar sprinkled liberally over our slightly crispy flatbreads.

Kahi is traditionally eaten by Iraqi Jews on Shavuot. The original Iraqi version involved rolling out kahi dough as thin as filo pastry, folding it in layers to make a square, then frying the square-shaped dough, drenching it in sugar syrup and topping it with clotted cream. In contrast, the kahi made by the Baghdadi Jews of India—that is, the Jews of India who were originally from Iraq, like my family—is more a flaky flatbread doused with sugar, similar to Indian paratha or Yemenite malawach.

I hadn’t eaten kahi in decades, but I wanted to include it in the cookbook of Indian-Jewish food I’ve been writing. I finally tracked down a recipe from Lisa Ezekiel, a member of Sydney’s Sephardi-Mizrahi community. It’s so good that as Lisa texted me, “Your family will love you for [making] it.” Your friends will, too.

Note: You can also prepare kahi in advance and refrigerate it for frying later. To do so, put the rolled out, buttered dough—each piece separated by a sheet of wax paper—in a large Ziploc bag and refrigerate for up to three days. When removing kahi from the fridge, gently peel off the wax paper and fry immediately—don’t allow the kahi to come to room temperature or it will get sticky and hard to handle.

Copied link

Ingredients

2cups all-purpose flour
½teaspoon salt
1tablespoon white vinegar
½cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water
2ounces (60g) butter or margarine, melted (use dairy-free margarine to make vegan kahi)
Confectioners’ sugar or granulated sugar, for serving

Yield: 8

Preparation

Step 1
Take a roll of wax paper and tear off nine pieces, each 12 inches (30cm) long, and set them aside.
Step 2
In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, vinegar, and water until you have a smooth dough. Weather conditions—especially humidity levels—affect dough, so if the dough doesn’t quite come together, gradually add more water, one teaspoon at a time. Conversely, if the dough sticks to your hands, add a little more flour. As an alternative—and especially if you are making a bigger quantity of kahi—you can make the dough in an electric mixer using a dough hook.
Step 3
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave the dough to rest for one hour.
Step 4
Divide the dough into eight equal-sized balls. Lightly flour a pastry mat or benchtop and use a rolling pin to roll one ball into a thin circle with an 8-inch (20cm) diameter. Don’t worry if your circle isn’t perfectly round; a rough circle is fine.
Step 5
Use a pastry brush or spoon to spread the melted butter or margarine over the top of the dough.
Step 6
Fold the dough in half so it’s a semi-circle, and brush the top of the dough with melted butter.
Step 7
Fold the dough in half again, so it’s now a quarter-circle. Brush the top of the dough with melted butter.
Step 8
Fold the dough in half one last time, so it’s in the shape of a wedge or piece of pie. Place the dough between two sheets of the wax paper.
Step 9
Repeat until all the dough is used, separating each piece of buttered dough with a sheet of wax paper.
Step 10
Lightly flour the pastry mat or countertop again, and remove the first piece of buttered dough from between the wax paper. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a rough square or circle (the shape doesn’t really matter, just aim for the dough to have an even thickness). Place the rolled-out dough back between two sheets of wax paper. Repeat with the other pieces of buttered dough.
Step 11
Heat a 10-inch (24 cm) frying pan over medium heat. Grease the pan with butter or olive oil spray, and cook the kahi for two minutes on each side, or until golden. Sprinkle with confectioners’ or granulated sugar, and serve immediately.